Animals
News Worth Trumpeting!
The number of elephants in Kenya more than doubled between 1989 and 2018 – from 16,000 up to about 34,800 — and now, thanks to stiffer penalties imposed by the government on the wildlife trade, poaching — to meet Asia’s demand for ivory and horns — is in decline. In 2018, 80 elephants were killed, in 2019 it was 34 and so far, in 2020, it has been seven. There were about 12 million elephants in Africa in the early 1900s, there are about 400,000 of these highly intelligent, emotionally-complex, and family-oriented animals remaining in Africa today. janegoodall.ca
Food
Earth Can’t Afford Our Food Bill
A new report from European think tank, EAT, “Diets for a Better Future”, says if foods typically consumed in G20 countries were adopted globally, we would exceed three times the planetary boundaries for food-related emissions, and require the resources equivalent to seven Earths. It certainly would sink any chance of meeting current climate and sustainability targets. The report stresses the need to drastically reduce the consumption of animal products – agriculture uses 40% of Earth’s land and is a primary driver of deforestation, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss. Producing food for our current population of 7.7 billion emits 25% of our GHGs.
the Climate Crisis
When Is Your Overshoot Day?
August 22 was Earth Overshoot Day (EOD). This is the point in the year when humanity starts using up more of the planet’s natural resources than it can replenish. Last year, EOD was July 29 and the difference is due to the pandemic reducing our ecological footprint by 9.3%. The first EOD (in 1970) was Dec 29 when the global population was 3.6 billion. Today, it is 7.7 billion and still growing even though we’re already putting unsustainable stresses on the planet’s resources (we’re now devouring the equivalent resources of 1.6 Earths annually). You can calculate your personal EOD and the chart on the back page shows how different food choices can move one’s date.
speaking words of wisdom
“This global pandemic has shown us the devastating impact people’s current treatment of animals can have. Ending the global wildlife trade will help prevent animal suffering and future pandemics.”
— Jann Arden, Canadian singer and signatory to an open letter to PM Justin Trudeau, from World Animal Protection
“The science is irrefutable. Modern animal agriculture will continue to make us sick if we don’t radically change our patterns of consumption.” — Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara
Photo: Ossi Saarinen www.instagram.com/soosseli
perspective
Photo: Morning Brew on Unsplash
Is Plant-Based Eating Really a Thing?
There’s been a lot of hype around plant-based foods and alternative protein in the last couple of years. Beyond Meat’s IPO wildly exceeded expectations in 2019 (offered at US$25 and currently trading at US$131), the explosion of plant-based milks in the dairy aisle, and the proliferation of plant-based alternatives from ice cream to cheeses, to burgers and sausages. These products have found their way onto restaurant menus, supermarket shelves and, more recently, offerings from fast food companies, while more and more big food companies are either buying or producing plant-based food brands.
According to the FAIRR investor network, 40% of 25 giant food retailers and manufacturers -- with combined annual revenues of US$459 billion -- now have dedicated teams to develop and sell plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy; with Tesco and Unilever ranked at the top.
These two companies were praised by investors for their commitment to shifting food portfolios to more sustainable protein sources, demonstrating board-level support for a climate-aligned protein transition (the shift away from animal proteins towards plant-based and new protein sources), and completing a climate ‘scenario analysis’ on their commodity supply chains. In total, seven of 15 retailers now sell, or plan to sell plant-based meat alternatives ‘on the meat aisle’.
The twin threats of the climate crisis and the widely accepted probability of future pandemics have ramped up the urgency for fundamental changes to our current food system – proven to be a major contributor to both of these crises. But, the meat industry isn’t too concerned because the demand for animal-based meat globally continues to rise as people in less wealthy nations become more affluent.
Nonetheless, it’s hard to ignore the news coming out of different parts of the world as evidence that plant-based eating is gaining ground. As detailed in Open Philanthropy’s Farm Animal Welfare Newsletter, Beyond Meat recently signed five new major partnerships in China including with Starbucks, Alibaba and Yum China (which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell there). Meanwhile, one of the largest US food companies, Cargill, has started producing meat alternatives for the Chinese market, and Nestle says it will be sending plant-based meat there by the end of this year. Its CEO has called plant-based foods “a once-in-a-generation opportunity”.
In other parts of Asia, Thailand’s largest meat company CP Foods has launched a plant-based line, and two Japanese meat giants have started selling plant-based meat. And a South Korean investor just led Impossible Foods’ latest US$500 million funding round.
In Latin America, Brazil’s agribusiness giant Marfrig, plans to roll-out its plant-based burger by year end after Brazil’s two biggest food companies Seara and JBS rolled out plant-based burgers last year. Meanwhile, Chile’s NotCo, possibly the highest valued non-US plant-based start up, has closed a new US$85 million round of funding.
In Europe, the UK’s largest retailer Tesco, has launched 30 new own-brand plant-based products while French dairy giant Danone, has plans to double its plant-based sales worldwide to €5 billion by 2025. And Unilever says one-third of its products is now plant-based.
In the US, Impossible Foods has started selling its products in Walmart, Beyond Meat is into Sam’s Club, and these brands are now available in 9,000 and 25,000 respectively of the US’s approximately 40,000 grocery stores. US retail sales of plant-based meat are averaging between 40 and 50% above last year which puts them on track to exceed US$1 billion this year.
These expansions mean more accessibility, choice and convenience for the customer looking to eat less meat and dairy. This in turn should increase demand and drive down one of the barriers to eating plant-based — price (this applies typically to processed food rather than whole food which tends to be cheaper). Up to 5% of US supermarket refrigerated meats are now plant-based, and while between 2013 and 2018 US plant-based meat retail sales rose 1 – 3%, now they are growing at 16 – 18% a year.
Nevertheless, market share for plant-based options is still a fraction of the overall market – especially for meat alternatives – but everything has to start somewhere and, in the early stages, that inevitably means small. The trend lines are clear and there are two primary drivers that, unfortunately, are forecast to exert even more pressure – the climate crisis and fear of future pandemics. This could mean plant-based eating is not only a “thing”, it is the thing that will help us get out of our current predicament.
on The horizon
How Fast Food Can Transform the Food System Much Faster
Fast food companies have built their global brands based on offerings of cheap, convenient, tasty, but largely unhealthy food – loaded with saturated and other fats, sodium, cholesterol and sugar -- food that countless studies show are associated with obesity, heart disease and some cancers as well as threatening the health of the planet itself. And, these companies export these menu items all over the world — into cities as well as poorer neighbourhoods where they help create food deserts.
Despite some effort to offer more nutritious food options such as salads and, more recently, environmentally healthier plant-based foods such as Beyond Meat burgers and sausages, there is still a long way to go. Even though dozens of start ups are already offering more plant-based food options, and the big food companies are getting into the game with their own lines of plant-based foods, we need more large-scale solutions now to help people cut back on their consumption of meat and dairy.
A recent opinion piece in Wired magazine contends that Fast Food companies could provide one of these solutions if they took meat of their menus altogether. By leveraging Fast Food’s low prices, widespread availability and production efficiencies, even small menu changes would mean serving billions of people every year healthier foods with a massively reduced environmental impact.
Animal agriculture has been described as “an environmental crime”. It is responsible for approximately 15% of GHG emissions (UN) of which cattle, alone, contribute 6%. A typical quarter-pounder consumes 15 gallons of water, 13 lbs of feed and has a 4 lb carbon footprint. The average American eats 57 lbs of beef a year.
Mass producing meat alternatives using alternative sources of protein would be somewhat healthier for humans and incomparably better for the environment. Massive uptake by fast food companies would also be a huge boost to scaling up plant-based food options thereby lowering their cost and allowing them to compete on price.
The article concludes that processed alternative proteins are not a silver bullet for the current food system’s problems – becoming truly sustainable will require a total transformation from production to consumption – but it would bring much needed change to the current system much more quickly.
We need “fast”, can Fast Food deliver it?
say it ain’t so
According to the Humane Society International, approximately 30 million dogs and 10 million cats are slaughtered worldwide annually for human consumption. Countries where this occurs include: China, Switzerland (where cats are cooked for Christmas dinners), Nigeria, India, South Korea, Thailand, and Cambodia. The practice is part of deep-rooted cultural norms not dissimilar to those in western nations that make it acceptable to eat highly intelligent animals with the capacity to suffer such as pigs, cows and chickens.
Good news
Photo: Vladimir Bosilkov on Unsplash
Backyard bird watching has taken off during the pandemic and sunflower seed producers are reaping the rewards. Sunflower growers in Canada have planted almost 50% more crop land this year due to an upswing in demand and higher prices, partly driven by increased sales to bird lovers feeding their feathered friends. Sunflowers are roasted for snacks, crushed for sunflower oil and sold as birdseed.
Cattle and sheep hides have dropped in value by 60% and 70% respectively over the last five years due to a decline in the use of leather for car and aircraft upholstery, and footwear. The Guardian.
Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara are executive producers of a new documentary “The End of Medicine”, directed by BAFTA-award winner Alex Lockwood. The film explores the connection between animal agriculture, environmental destruction and zoonotic diseases. It is scheduled for release later this year.
There maybe a new tool in the fight against the rise of antibiotic resistance (ABR) — which has been heralded as “the end of modern medicine”, and if left unchecked will kill 10 million people every year by 2050. ABR is caused by the overuse and abuse of antibiotics in human medicine and factory farmed animals. One of the causes is that there is no quick or reliable test for a doctor or vet to determine which drugs best treat which bacteria. And, overprescribing to cover the bases, accelerates the development of resistant bacteria.
However, British scientists at Cambridge University are developing a simple, quick ABR diagnostic test kit. It’s the size of a small portable suitcase with a solar-panelled battery. Results can be read easily off a molecular dipstick and guide clinical decisions in real time. A mobile phone app can also upload data to centralized surveillance systems to track the spread of ABR.
The UN’s FAO estimates meat production dropped in 2019 and it is forecast to drop again this year. For this to happen for two consecutive years is unprecedented and could signal “something durable.” One survey from the UK’s The Vegan Society, showed more than 13 million British people (1 in 5) have cut back on eating meat during the pandemic -- 41% of meat or dairy reducers said it was due to lack of availability; and 48% said it was for health, environmental or animal welfare concerns.
data points
A mink on a fur farm in Canada. Photo: Jo-Anne McArthur, We Animals Media
1. A recent poll found that 89% of Canadians believe the wildlife trade threatens human health and causes pandemics but how many know that Canada is complicit in this trade? Examples include: importing and breeding wild animals for use as pets; exporting wildlife for trophy hunting e.g., bear; and breeding wildlife for fur e.g., mink – which can carry and transmit Covid-19. World Animal Protection defines animals in the wildlife trade as those who have been bred in captivity or who have been captured from the wild.
2. Wild animals harbour an estimated 40,000 unknown viruses, one-quarter of which have zoonotic potential to jump to humans. Zoonoses have caused nearly every pandemic in history and outbreaks are “mediated by human action in most cases”, according to research conducted in 2012, and the number of outbreaks has quadrupled over the past 50 years. The UN FAO calls much of this increase “directly related to the human quest for more animal-sourced food”. The Atlantic
3. China has a controversial US$3.5 billion plan to outsource its pig production to Argentina and 400,000 Argentinians are petitioning to stop it. The plan is to create 25 huge factory farm/slaughterhouse complexes each of which would house 12,500 sows. China is looking for a new supplier after African Swine Fever crippled production and led to the culling of at least 100 million pigs. The concern is these new factory farms could act as incubators for zoonotic pathogens and the next pandemic, and will create significant environmental pollution. They will also spur deforestation in the fragile Gran Chaco forest, the second biggest forest in South America, because hundreds of thousands of acres of new crop land will be needed to grow feed for an additional 350,000 pigs. The Guardian
4. There’s a new urgent call to end the carbon economy but it isn’t coming from climate activists. Instead, more than 100 of the world’s top economists are making a compelling argument for a green transition. Notable figures including Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz, Robert Reich and others argue that the carbon economy amplifies racial, social and economic inequalities and that governments should phase out support for the fossil fuel industry while encouraging investment in green alternatives. Their five-point plan addresses the climate crisis, and the economic and social inequalities of the status quo.
the deeper dive
Photo: Planet Friendly News
More Evidence Bee Losses Threaten Our Food Security
Supply shocks in the global food systems caused by the pandemic have heightened public concern about the security of our food supply chains. And now a new study shows that bees and other pollinators are way more important to food security than we thought.
Conducted by scientists at Rutgers University and published in the Royal Society journal for Biological Sciences, the study shows that a drop in the number of pollinators like bees is reducing crop yields for apples, cherries, and blueberries in the United States and Canada. But the study also shows that this food supply vulnerability goes way beyond bees and the fruit they help produce, because fewer pollinators lead to lower harvest volumes for major food crops. “Most of the world's crops depend on pollinators, so declines in both managed and wild bees raise concerns about food security.”
Bees pollinate about 75% of global food crops, including fruits and vegetables. But wild bee and honeybee numbers have seen declines of up to 40% for some species in the last 10 - 15 years. Without pollinators, crops such as coffee, apples, almonds, tomatoes and cocoa would be wiped out.
Crops that depend on pollinators generate more than $50 billion a year in the US alone. The annual production value of wild pollinators to just seven crops examined in this study is more than US$1.5 billion. So declining bee populations that result in lower harvest volumes for all pollinator-dependent crops is costing producers billions of dollars and hurting the security of our food system.
Wild and managed pollinators are critical for bountiful harvests of most crops.
Chart: Royal Society
The study looked at insect pollination and yields for apples, cherries, blueberries, almonds, watermelons, and pumpkins at 131 farms across the US and in British Columbia, Canada. The results show that apples, sweet cherries, tart cherries, and blueberries are hurt by pollinator declines and that crop yields are lower than they would be with full pollination. The study also finds that wild bees are a more important link in the food chain than originally thought and provide higher economic value to fruit producers than honey bees.
This is yet more compelling evidence that natural habitats for pollinators are even more important than previously thought. The scientists recommend preserving wildflowers and other plants that attract wild bees to increase yields and preserve a crucial part of our food security system.
We know that pollinator populations are severely damaged by intensive farming, pollution, deforestation and monoculture cropping systems that plant crops to the fence lines and rely on heavy herbicide and pesticide use to denude the landscape of the natural habitat of bees and other pollinators. Regulators need to further restrict or speed up phasing out harmful chemicals like neonicotinoids that decimate pollinators. Agricultural producers need to take action to preserve this crucial link in the chain that puts fruit and other foods on our tables.
related article
climate stories
These articles are adapted from The Climate Beat, the weekly newsletter of Covering Climate Now, a global journalistic initiative committed to more and better climate coverage.
In a lengthy investigation, the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations delve into the mental health implications of our climate emergency. In the wake of 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, for example, 50 percent of Houston residents struggled with “powerful or severe emotional distress.” But the lone government program designed to help reaches only a small fraction of people affected—and its support seldom lasts as long as victims need. This investigation also includes an explainer on how to cope with emotional wounds and a piece on the benefit of community gatherings—convivencias, in Spanish—for one group in California.
Green Queen Media from Hong Kong has a Q&A with Harvard Business School professor Rebecca Henderson, author of the new book Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire. As it stands, Henderson says, capitalism “is not working for very large numbers of people on the planet. It is creating long-term damage that will cause immense harm to the planet and to our society.” Her approach, she says, “is to say that we need every firm to be aware that managers have a responsibility to not only investors, but to the long-term health of the society and the planet.”
The Sunshine Movement is out with Winning the Green New Deal, a collection of essays from leading experts published by Simon & Schuster about the policy proposal that seeks to pull humanity back from the brink of climate catastrophe. Edited by Varshini Prakash and Guido Girgenti, the book’s authors include Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Bill McKibben, Rev William Barber II, and more.
In Palm Beach County, Florida, some forty miles from the president’s opulent Mar-a-Lago retreat, US Sugar’s practice of burning its crop at harvest time is choking the air with pollutants and making it hard for residents—and young students—in the low-income, predominantly Black community to breath. A stellar investigation from Grist and Type Investigations found that public agencies at all levels of government have failed to ban the practice despite clear health impacts, which are more acute amid the coronavirus pandemic.
charting our path
Chart: Global Footprint Network, Earth Overshoot Day
If we reduced global meat consumption by 50% and replaced these calories with a vegetarian diet, we would move Overshoot Day 17 days (including 10 days from the reduction of methane emissions). If we cut food waste in half worldwide, we would move Overshoot Day 13 days.